Bearing system for rotary well-pumps.



J. A. WINTROATH. BEARING SYSTEM FOR ROTARY WELL PUMPS.

APPLIGATION FILED FEBLH, 1913.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

[22 yena'r J. A. WINTROATH.

BEARING SYSTEM POR ROTARY WELL PUMPS.

` AYPLIGATION FILED PBB.11, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1,079,682,l Patented Nov. `.25, 1913.

I/Vinesseg. A I Y m Inventor:

UNiTEn STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. WINTROATH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, LASSIGNOR 'I'O THE LAYNE"&

BOWLER CORPORATION, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, -A CORPOATION OF CALI- FORNIA.

Specification of Letters Paten-1:.

Patented Nov. 125, 1913.

Application ined February 11,-191s. serial No. 747,780.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. VINTROATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new. and useful Bearing System for Rotary Tell-Pumps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates broadly to a novel bearing system for vertical rotary multi-stage pumps installed in wells; and more particularly this invention relates to a novelly constructed bearing having a novel location beneaththe lowermost pump impeller, Whereby the excessive and damaging wear on the supplementary stage bearings between the impellers is altogether eliminated; and whereby the rapid depreciatio-n and unreliability characteristic of prior well pumps of this type may be avoided, so that. the unsatisfactory multi-stage well pump hithertov known is converted into a durable, efficient. and reliable adjunct to well mechanism. The provision of a bearing in the inlet passage below the lo-wermost impeller has never been countenanced, because it was believed that a bearing so located would unjustiably interfere with the hydraulic iow through said inlet passage. `But by careful experiment I have discovered that a bearing there located bears a peculiar hydraulic relation to the supplementary bearings above, whereby the influence of the former sheds a remarkably i prominent and beneficial influence over the latter so as to protect them against the damaging wear previously encountered.-

Broadly, therefore, this invention rests on the discovery that a bearing, located beneath,

the lowermost impeller of a multi=stage Well vention. 3 is a plan view of the bearin shown in Fig. 2.

The well casing 1 is usually sunk --deep down -to thewater or oil bearing gravels,

`and a vertical rotary multi-stage pump 2 is usually suspended in said well casing and is positioned 'often several hundred feet beneath the surface of the earth. Pumps of this construction have their inlet below, and the water or other lfluid'derived from said well is sucked into the pump through an inlet passage, including sectionA pipe 3, bottom bearing 4 and the lower portion 5 of the lowermost pump casing; and after passing through pump 2 said fluid is forcedv upward, against high head, through the riser 6 to the surface of the earth. l

The. pump 2 comprises a series of separate and similar pump lcasings 7 mounted one above the other, each of said casings containing a pumping chamber or stage 8; and by means of ca'p screws 9 the lower periph.- ery of one casing is securely attached to the upper periphery of the next, until a sutlicient number of cas-ings have been vthus connected to provide the requisite stages-five being shown in thedrawings. The sides and bottom of each pumping chamber 8 is bounded by thebowl portion 10 of the adjacent casing 7 while 1 the top of said chamber t is bounded by the plate 11 supported bv 'curved diffusion vanes 12 which extend down from the bottom port-ion 13 of the casing next above. Casing 7, diffusion vanes 12 and plate 11 are integrally cast, and between theA diffusion vanes-lie the usual fluid passages which connect two successive stages or 'pumping chambers 8, while the plate ll-is flared upwardly into a central neck 14 so as to form a supplementary shaft bearing 15 between successive stages. The plate 11 of the uppermost pump casing is specially constructed and carries a long bearing neck 16, usually having bronze bearing bushings 17 while the low'rmost pump casing is rigidly connected with' a separate bulged bearing casing 18 supporting bearing 19.

The power shaft 20 extends 'downward from the surface ofthe earth' to and through the casing constituting pump 2, said shaftbeing supported laterally'within said pump by the bearing. bushing' 17, supplementary bearings 14 and bearing 19. A series of rotary impellers 21 are carried by shaft 20 and are operated in the pumping chamber 8 in the usual manner.

In prior miilti-stagewell pumps of the foregoing type there has been no shaft bearing 19 located in the inlet pump passage or anywhere else beneath the lowermost impeller. The presence of a bearing there has always been discountenanced because of its interference with the hydraulic upward flow in said inlet passage, and in View of its peculiar influence on -and coperation with -supplementary bearings 14 as hereinbefore described this invention basically consists in providing a bottom bearing 19. This bottom bearing may have any suitable form, and a. preferred construction is detailed in Figs. 2 and 3 and will now be described. v

The casing18 is bulged as at 22 in'order to house the similarly-formed bearing 19 and to afford Huid passage of equal cross area throughout the length of said bearing casing. For the purpose of parting the rising fluid without shock or friction, and forthe purpose of preventing the rising fluid from entering the bearing from below, the ybearing 19 is completely closed around the shaft `at itslower extremity, and this lower closing portion terminates ina point 24. The supporting webs` which unite casing 18 with bearing` 19, have similarly-tapered lower edges 26, which also part the rising Huid without shock or friction.

The member 23 of bearing 19 is seen to embrace the lower shaft extremity 2,7 and to carry a bronze bushing 28, which sustains the wear of said shaft, and which extends somewhat above the bearing member 23. The said member is formed withl a seat 29 and a threaded neck 30, and onto this neck The upper part of this cap :lits nicely around shaft 20 as at 32, and the body of said cap forms a chamber 33 surrounding or embracing said shaft above its lower extremity. Within said chamber is located a depending cap 34 rotatively supported on shaft 20 by set screw 35, and having an accurately machined central aperture 36 adapted to snugly embrace the shaft so as to form a water tight lit with the same. Caps 31 and 34, together with a suitable filtering and packing material 37 provided beneath cap 34, comprises a filtering attachment for bearing 19 and serves to protect said bearing as will be hereinafter described. A second dependingvcap 38 is rotatively bound on shaft 20 by set sc rew 39 and has an accurately machined central aperture 40 snugly embracing the shaft-so as to form a water tight fit-with the same; and for a pur-V pose hereinafter disclosed, the said .member laps over the upstanding cap or chamber forming i portion 31 ofthe bearing. It is noticed, however, that the outer face of said member practically forms a smooth continuous outerhsurface with bearing member 23 and cap 31, so that the upward hydraulic iow encountersA no resisting projections.

Thev peculiar protective influence which a bottom bearing 19, located beneath the lowermost impeller, sheds upon the supplementary bearings 15, and the hydraulic relations upon which this influence depends, will now be described.

Ordinarily the lowermost stage or casing 7 o-f the pump is located beneath the surface of the earth at a point within reasonable proximity to the normal Huid level. This is often do'wn several hundred feet, and when the fluid is being forced upward through the riser 6, 'each pump stage supports its proportionate share of the iiuld head. For instance, if the five-stage pump, shown in Fig. 1, were forcing the iuid upward against a 50G-foot head the pressure increment o f each stage would equal a head lof 100 hydraulic feet. It will be noticed, however, that the mean hydraulic pressure in the uppermost stage or casin 7 would be equal to the total 50G-foot hea above, while the mean pressure in the next lowerstage would be only 400 feet, and in the next lower stage 300 feet, and so on, until'the mean pressure 'in the lowest stage would only equal the 100 foot, which represents its own share of the total head supported by the pump. In other words, the mean `pressure in each stage equals its own share of the total head plus the head or pressure increments of all the stages below. With this in mind it will be seen thatthe lowermost of the series of supplementary bearings 15 is open to a great hydraulic head, both on its upper and lower end, and that the suc cessively higher supplementary` bearin s are subject to a similar but proportionate y increased head, which becomes very severe in the uppermost supplementary`bearing. In wells of ordina-ry construction there is often considerable sand pumped along with the fluid, and as this enter the supplementary bearings 15 the same are rapidly worn large and therefore robbed of their bearing utility. In the absence of a bottombearing 19 thc destructive grinding of the supplementary bearing is so prominent that vertical multistage well pumps have never been thoroughly satisfactory. Even though supplementary bearings may have been accurately machined so as to embrace the shaft snugly, the aforesaid severe hydraulic pressures within the pump always forced the water through these supplementary bearings. Af-

ter the same has been slightly. worn the shaft tends to .vibrate,! and as 'the same pounds back and `forth it drives the water and sand out of one side of the bearings. while the lsevere hydraulic pressure drives the waterand'sand back into the other sid` of the bearings andthe Huid pressure is so great that this water and sand circulation occurs, no matter how fine the crevices between the shaft and the bearings may be.

l ally zero.

draulic component tending to drive a film of- Were it not for the hydraulic pressure in the vicinity of the supplementary bearings, the water and sand might be driven from.

them andv permanently excluded by the slight normal movements of the shaft, ,but under the conditions of actual service such exclusion is obviously impossible. In prior pumps, where a bottom bearing was not pro` vided, the supplementary bearings soon became sand-worn in the aforesaid manner and permitted an increasingly aggravatedthe well, it is obvious that the hydraulicpressure adjacent bearing 19 will be virtu- In this event there is no hywater and sand between the bottom bearing and the shaft extremity which it embraces. The bottom bearing is machined so as to fit and embrace the shaft nicely, and in the absence of a great hydraulic head the circulation of water and sand in said bearing is practically eliminated. Furthermore, in addition to the low pressure, the fluid flows upward around thebottom bearing, and the same being completely closed below, no water or sand will enter it except by an unlikely and unnatural counter or down flow leading through the descending annular passage'between caps 3l and 34. The little sand and fluid, however, that may find this course. must pass through the packing or filtering material 37 where all sand and other grit is extracted from the fluid which may then safely enter any crevice between bushing 28 and shaft 2'0. This clean water is no detriment to the bearing, but actually exerts a beneficial lubricating Aaction between the bearing parts. Cap 38 is provided so that the water, which descends from theI riser and pump, after the latter is shut down, will be deflected outward and away froml the aperture between cap 31 and shaft 20.

In practice it is found that a bottom bearing located in the substantially pressureless.

zone beneath the lowermost impeller, has a remarkably good wearing capacity, while the supplementary bearings 1.5,located in the high pressure zones aforesaid, have a noticeably poor and inefficient wearing capacity. This condition, as has been explained, is chiefly due to the relative locations of said bearings with respect `to local hydraulic pressures, but is also aided by the manner in. which the bottom bearing mayembrace and seal the lower extremity of the shaft so as to prevent circulation, while the supplementary bearings, being necessarily open above and below, aresubjectto a constant fluid and sand flow through and along same.

By providing these pumps with a serviceable bottom bearing, as aforesaid, the shaft is steadied against transverse vibration; and though the supplementary bearings still become slightly Worn while the pumpis being broken in, these bearings are spared the severe wear previously encountered, while the pump is relieved of the destructve rattiling which was always detrimental. These beneficial results have removed the uncer-v tain and unsatisfactory features from the operation of verticalmulti-stage well pumps and have'raised this .type of mechanism to a rugged and durable device that has an elliciency and longevity -comparing-well'with pumps of any variety. Though this substantial advance in the art has been basically accomplished by locating a button bearing in the pressureless zone beneath the lowermost impeller, it will be observed also that the particular construction and provisions on said bearing, as hereinbefore described, avoid appreciable interference with the fluid flow, and this interference is totally negligible as compared with the general im- .'provements secured to the pump.

' I claim 1. In a vertical rotary fluid pump having its inlet passage below, a vertlcal shaft, an impeller on said shaft, la bearing embracin and supporting the lower extremity of sai shaft, an upstanding'cap` on said bearing and forming a chamber .surrounding said shaft, a depending cap within said chamber and having a water tight fit with said shaft, filtering material within said chamber, and

` a second depending cap above said upstand- -ing cap and having a' watertight fit with said shaft. l

2. In a rotary deep well water pump having its inlet passage below, the combination with a vertical shaft, of impeller means on said shaft, a pump casing in which said ims peller means works, said pump 'casing having bearing means for said shaft, a separate bearing below said impeller means, the last said bearing being closed around the llower extremity of the shaft and the last said bearing having a filtering chamber surrounding the shaft, and filtering material in said chamber preventing access of sandy or gritty material to the surface of the 'shaft which runs in the last said' bearing.

3. In a rotary-deep well water pump having its inlet passage below, the combination with a vertical shaft,.of impeller means on' said shaft, a pump casing in which said impeller meansl Works, said pump casing havvelocity change of the Water passing through lng bearing means for said shaft, and a said bearing casing is minimized.l

separate bearin below the impeller means, In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set said bearing belng closed around theA lower my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 5 extremity of the shaft, a separate bearing twenty-first day of January, 1913.

casing attached to the pump casing and supporting the last said bearing, the interior JOHN A' WINTROATH surface of said bearing casing being con- In presence ofstructed to substantially conform with the PAUL D. BoWLER,

10 exterior surface of .the bearing so that the ROBERT A. STEPS. 

